AMD rolls out Catalyst 12.6 WHQL driver

AMD has updated its Catalyst driver with two new versions, WHQL-certified Catalyst 12.6 as well as the Catalyst 12.7 Beta.

After giving up on monthly Catalyst updates recently, AMD released its new WHQL-certified Catalyst 12.6 driver that includes AMD display driver version 8.98, new Hydravision and Southbridge/IXP driver as well as the new Catalyst Control Center/Vision Engine Control Center version 8.98. The new driver supports all products since Radeon HD 5000 series.

The new Catalyst 12.6 WHQL driver resolves a handful of issues seen on Radeon HD 7900, HD 7800 Tri-Crossfire configurations + Eyefinity that no longer result in BSOD when launching DirectX application as well as HD 7900 and HD 7800 Eyefinity/Multiple Display configurations that were showing BSOD when using desktop applications.

It also fixes issues for Radeon HD 7900, HD 7800 and HD 7700 series graphics cards when system goes into the sleep mode, resolves Crossfire scaling issues in Elder Scrolls: Skyrim in Crossfire mode and lack of GPU activity gauge in AMD CCC. Additionally, it resolves system hang after cinematics in Call of Duty: Black Ops when running HD 7900 Crossfire, HDMI audio disable issue when HDTV is powered off/on, Crossfire scaling in Dirt Showdown on HD 6000 series Crossfire, and issues with Heroes and Generals with blocky corruption of smoke effects in DirectX 11 mode.

In addition to the performance improvements, the new driver also brings AMD Dual Graphics enhancements for AMD Radeon HD 7660D and HD 7560D on AMD A-Series APUs with profiles for games like Diablo 3, Elder Scrolls: Skyrim, Starcraft 2, Portal 2, Call of Duty Modern Warfare and Black Ops. AMD also released a new Catalyst 12.7 CAP (Catalyst Application Profile) that fixes some issues in Diablo 3, Call of Duty: World at War, Modern Warfare, Myths and Heroes 3, XCOM: Enemy Unknown and Tom Clancy Ghost Recon Future Soldier games and their performance in Crossfire configurations.

In addition to the new Catalyst 12.6 WHQL driver, AMD has also rolled out a new 12.7 beta driver that brings a handful of performance improvements improvements in game titles like Skyrim, Crysis, Total War Shogun , Battlefield 3 and more. You can find the new 12.7 Beta driver as well as full release notes here.

The Catalyst 12.6 WHQL certified driver and the 12.7 CAP can be found here.